


Conversation

by Rin_the_Shadow



Series: To Turn Spark [2]
Category: Transformers (Unicron Trilogy), Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Armada
Genre: (possibly) canon compliant, Bonus scene for Armada, Friendship, Gen, Not shipping - Freeform, Robot/Human Friendships, Technically AU for Armada, adjusting to Autobot life, heel-face-turn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-06
Updated: 2018-01-06
Packaged: 2019-03-01 08:39:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13291197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rin_the_Shadow/pseuds/Rin_the_Shadow
Summary: Sort of a "bonus scene" for Transformers: Armada.  Alexis wants to be friends with the newest addition to their team, but struggles to communicate things in a way an ex-Decepticon can understand that.Pretty much exactly what it says on the tin: a conversation between Alexis and Starscream of the Armada continuity.





	Conversation

**Author's Note:**

> I'd posted this on my DeviantArt awhile back, but I thought it might be better to put it here now that I have an account. 
> 
> I've often thought that Armada wasn't really a bad series. It just took awhile to get going, and then had to rush some things. Starscream's temporary defection to the Autobots was one of those things that I wished could have been just a few episodes longer. 
> 
> Disclaimer: Obviously, I don't own Transformers, but it bears acknowledgement.

The latest mission had been a success, and although Carlos insisted he’d never doubted them, Alexis could see how close they’d come to failing, to losing some of their team. She wondered if Rad saw it, too. She thought about asking him, but she wasn’t so sure she wanted to know that one. Of the three of them, Rad was easily the most optimistic, the one who could always be counted on to cheer you on even when you knew you couldn’t win. He was also the closest to the Mini-Cons, although Alexis liked to pretend she didn’t notice. If he was worried about their chances, what would that do to them, or to _their_ group? She didn’t want to be the one responsible for that.

Instead, she surveyed the group, taking in the conditions of the away team. Red Alert had mostly patched everyone up, but she could still see the welding in Optimus Prime’s leg, and the scorch marks where Hot Shot had taken a particularly nasty hit. Alexis forced herself not to look at anyone else’s injuries, and she looked up just in time to see a red and white seeker slip away.

Even if he’d removed his Decepticon insignia, it still would’ve been obvious Starscream wasn’t used to the Autobot way of doing things. He tried to hide it, for all he was willing to criticize their lack of revenge drive towards Megatron. She didn’t think anyone else had noticed. Well, except maybe Optimus, but he probably would’ve wanted to let him adjust at his own pace, like he’d done when Blurr first arrived. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to ask there either. But regardless of his outspoken critical streak, Starscream definitely tried to hide it, just like he’d tried to make sure no one saw when he slipped out earlier.

But she’d noticed. She’d noticed his tense, uncertain behavior during these post-victory debriefing sessions, on more than one occasion. And not just when the Autobots won. She’d once seen him almost visibly startle after receiving praise for a failed mission. “I’m proud of you, Starscream,” Optimus had said. “Even though it would’ve been easy to take the shot, you stayed down and kept the Mini-Con’s position safe. We may not have recovered the Requiem Blaster, but you used good judgment, and I’m proud of that.”

He tried to act nonchalant, but it was a full three seconds before he responded, “Yeah, well, anyone would stay down after taking a hit like that,” angrily gesturing to the exposed wiring near the shoulder of his dominant arm. (Did robots have dominant hands? She’d never been sure, but he seemed to favor wielding his sword with that one.)

Alexis couldn’t quite tell through his face plating, but she thought she found no small amount of amusement in the Autobot commander’s voice. “I’m sure. In any event, you should probably get that fixed up. Red Alert will be in the medbay, so he can check for any internal damage you might have received.”

The idea of someone else running repairs was foreign to him too.

At times, she couldn’t help but wonder what it was like, working under Megatron. She figured you’d be punished for failed missions, but were successes simply taken for granted, or would Megatron still find ways to make it clear he expected more? He always seemed on guard whenever one of the Autobots would approach or try to make conversation, and never really responded to their small talk more than necessary. So was there no camaraderie among Decepticons? Did that mean just anyone could stab you in the back at any time? Just what kind of world had Starscream come from?

Alexis shook her head to clear those thoughts. Whatever his past might have been, she knew Starscream didn’t react well to anything he perceived as pity. Alexis had stomped off more than a few times after trying to check up on him. He’d assumed she was prying around his weaknesses, and after trying to no avail to explain that wasn’t the case, she’d snapped and run away. “You know what? Forget it! I’m just trying to be nice, but it’s obvious you don’t get that!” Sometimes she regretted snapping like that. Others, she wondered if he even felt the sting.

She sighed, turning back to Rad and Carlos for a moment, then deciding against it. If they wanted to, they’d be able to figure out where she’d gone. She pushed herself up to a standing position, and then slipped off in the same direction Starscream had gone. It wasn't hard to guess where he’d go.

As she walked, she ran over her words in her mind. Nothing that seemed like “sympathy,” which he frequently used to mean “pity.” She paused for a moment as she ran over that one. Maybe they were the same and she’d never thought of it? She’d have to file that one away for later.

She reached the rocks and realized she still hadn’t decided what she wanted to say. She inhaled. She could never be sure how he’d take it. “Hey!” She hoped she sounded cheerful enough. “Everything okay?”

The seeker looked up from his musing, then back down, as if he was only just remembering she was human and not another giant robot. “Why wouldn’t it be?” His rasp made it hard to tell if he was genuinely annoyed or not.

Alexis shrugged. “I don’t know. You snuck out earlier, though.”

He stiffened at that. “Did the Autobots send you out here to fetch me?”

She wasn’t sure she liked that tone. Once, Megatron had referred to the humans as being like “pets.” That was the first time she’d been aware that the word had different meanings when she used it and when they used it. To Transformers, or at least Decepticons, a pet wasn’t something you wanted to be. The way Starscream spoke, she was suddenly reminded of those words.

She clenched her fist, shutting her eyes and breathing through her nose until she could trust herself to answer. “No,” she finally said. “I can do things for myself, you know.” Oops. That came out wrong. But really, he shouldn’t have talked like she was some mascot.

“I see.” There was some note of apology in that. At the very least, the accusation had gone from his voice.

She waited for a moment before speaking again, waiting to see if there was anything else he wanted to say. “You’re not really used to these group debriefing sessions, are you?” She was pleased to hear that she still sounded casual enough. There was no way he’d take that as pity.

“What?” It must have been a bigger jump back to that than she’d realized.

“You know, back there, when you snuck out. You’re not used to those, right?” By this point, her curiosity was genuine.

He paused for a moment. She’d thought he’d have something to snap back to that, but it seemed like he was actually thinking about it. He spoke slowly, still choosing each word as it left his mouth. “It’s very…different…from the way things were with the Decepticons.”

Something strange was in that tone, but it wasn’t bitterness or nostalgia. Alexis wasn’t sure what to call it. “So…is that good or bad?” Sometimes she felt so simple.

Another pause. “I haven’t decided yet.”

“Oh.” She wasn’t sure if she was disappointed or not. “So with the Decepticons, things are pretty different, huh?” She wanted to mention his reactions to Optimus’s praise, but there was only one way _that_ conversation would end.

“Yes. I said that.” His tone was short, clipped. This time, it wasn’t an accident.

“Yeah, you say that a lot, actually. About a lot of things.”

Starscream shifted, not quite to a defensive posture, but enough to get the point across.

“You’re not too big on small talk, are you?” She felt her voice soften, and prayed he wouldn’t take it as pity.

Something went off then; Alexis wasn’t sure what. “So the humans are probing me too, now?”

She startled at the accusatory tone, grasping for words and finding none. Probing? How was she probing? She’d asked a question. Not even a question. She'd made an observation.

“It’s not enough that the Autobots scrutinize my every move, now you think I need fleshlings to analyze me? Am I supposed to be your project now, too?”

Alexis took a step back at the amount of venom in his words, frantically trying to calm herself. No! That wasn’t it at all!

The seeker froze, and Alexis realized she’d spoken out loud. “What?”

It was Alexis’s turn to freeze as Starscream stared her down, daring her to say it again. She could feel her temper mounting again, and _that_ overrode any glare he could give. “Does everything have to be about ulterior motives with you? I asked because I wanted to know more about you, because I wanted to get to know you! Because that’s what friends _do_!” Starscream visibly flinched at this. Alexis turned away, pinching the bridge of her nose to keep half-formed ideas from flying out. Everything, _everything_ was always some kind of trap, some kind of trick or probe or whatever. What could _she_ , a mere “fleshling,” as he put it, possibly do to a big robot like him? But if that’s the way he wanted it, maybe Carlos was right. Maybe there was no point.

“Alexis?” She wondered if she imagined the concern in his voice, and realized she was shaking in her fury. She took a breath.

“You really don’t trust anyone, do you?” There. She’d finally said it.

There was a pause. As if he actually had to think about that one. “No,” he finally answered. “I guess not.”

She didn’t dare turn around. “So there’s no way I can be nice just because I want to be? You think I always have to want something in exchange?”

She half-expected to get an answer right away. It seemed like the kind of thing he’d snap back to. A long silence stretched out, though she didn’t feel his optics bearing down on her like before.

She stood for what felt like ages before she realized she wasn’t going to get her answer. Because he didn’t know and he wasn’t going to admit that.

“Look,” she finally said. “I get that things are different and weird, and I don’t expect you to jump right in and start acting like the others or anything. But, I mean, things are different, right?” How would he figure that out if he wasn’t even willing to _try_ to communicate? “Like…” She realized she was about to overstep, but the words slipped out before she could stop them. “Like Megatron never noticed your calls on failed missions, right? He just saw that the mission failed?” She paused. “Am I wrong?” She paused again. “So…Optimus isn’t like Megatron. He’s not probing or anything, and if he’s looking for weaknesses, it’s because he wants to cover over them.” She finished with a curt nod, not really certain of why she needed that.

At this point, long silences didn’t really surprise her anymore. At least they weren’t peevish remarks about not needing her sympathy. But at this point, silence could mean anything. Turning her back had been a stupid move. At the time, it had been the only thing keeping her from screaming at him, but now…

She clenched her teeth. She’d have to swallow her pride now, wouldn’t she? Well, he hadn’t dismissed her words yet, so it couldn’t be too bad. She inhaled.

“So that’s the way it is, huh?” She froze at the smirk in his voice.

“Yeah.” She turned around. “I think so.”

“Hmm…” She couldn’t tell if that was a sneer or if he was seriously thinking about it. Before she could ask, he started back towards the base.

Alexis broke into a run after him. “So you’re at least giving it a chance, right?”

Without turning around, Starscream responded, “Don’t put words in my mouth, human! It’s not like there’s anywhere else I can go anyway!”

Alexis searched for words, and found her only response was a laugh.

**Author's Note:**

> Starscream tends to be difficult to pin down in writing, but I hope I did the character justice.
> 
> Thank you for reading, and hopefully you enjoyed it!  
> ~Rin


End file.
